Found
by Starry's Light
Summary: Yamato Hotsuin and F!Hibiki Kuze share a long history and powerful bond. This is a story on how it came to be. (Request from Shiranai Atsune)
1. Chapter 1

**Hi! This is for Shiranai Atsune most specifically, as they requested it, but it's also for anyone who's in the mood for Hibiki (female in this story) shipped with Yamato, because obviously you ship that because why wouldn't you? I dunno I think it's really cute, haha. This first chapter's in the Septentrione arc, and the one after it's what happens in the Triangulum.  
Ahhh, enjoy!**

Found

Hibiki took the grace of the moment to step back from the others and look up at the ceiling. In a way, it felt frivolous to go on and gloss this radiant chamber, larger than most she'd ever stepped into, with all of its gold highlights when there was but a fraction of people who even knew it existed. And it felt kind of funny, stepping on the gilded halls with her normal civilian friends when people overdressed in tight, official suits quickly trotted—there was no sprinting—back and forth of the corridors.

In her civilian shoes. Civilian shoes that no doubt tracked all kinds of mud in that the preened members of this government organization hardly stepped into in a month what she could find on a daily basis.

What a tall ceiling... How far did it even go?

"Kuze."

She paused and searched the open chamber for the owner of such a high-class voice. He had this way of speaking that made even her surname sound... formal. And there he was, his dark trench coat swaying as he stepped toward her, those violet eyes distantly clear.

"Mmh." She dipped her head. "Chief." Her friends hadn't quite picked up on the formalities, so much as Makoto tried. _Chief Hotsuin_ , not _Yamato_ , too friendly. Well, it did seem off-putting to refer to someone so... put up with such a small word. But somehow she found a bit of satisfaction in that.

Yamato halted when he found himself in suitable speaking distance to the high school girl. She noted there wasn't much of an age difference... if any at all. While he stood at least a head taller than her... he couldn't be all that old, now could he? "I wished to commemorate you for your exemplary skills. I've yet to see that in a civilian..." A small smirk creeped into his face. Somehow it looked strange. Hibiki couldn't put just how... It may have been the stilted language. Rather... _pompous_ , he came off as.

She mirrored his smirk with one of her own. "Really. It was no much effort. There were demons... they were hostile... I defeated them." Besides, her old friend Daichi was the one who hit that damn thing with his truck and nearly blew himself up with it. Although she did find the silvery-haired boy's consideration amusing.

"Yes, well..." The smirk raised with one of his eyebrows. "I would much like to see more of this effort."

She shrugged. "I may as well." Truthfully, she had nothing better to do than stay in their overdone playhouse anyways. And it was... a little fun. Walking around the palace-like let alone secret underground headquarters. Muddying their pristine floors with her shoes.

As she stuffed her hands into the pocket of her bunny hoodie, Yamato continued to eye her. "May as well indeed." He continued on after turning away. "Goodnight, Kuze."

"Mm."

That was the first time.

She didn't hold any expectations for any others, although it hadn't be said she found herself mildly pleased by his arrivals. She found him... interesting, this Yamato. Made her wonder. He didn't waste words, just cut to what he felt a need to say and led where others failed to. She told this in passing to Io once, when the other girl mentioned a coldness that came off of him. The way Io described him made him off to be a thunderstorm of a person, though, innocent girl, she couldn't tell what she was saying.

Funny boy. Funny Yamato.

He seemed to find her funny too. She didn't know what to make of that.

They didn't speak much until she approached him on her own time. After the visit to Nagoya, after the third attack of a Septentrione, and the third fall of one as well. She more or less ran into him between explorations, as Airi and Jungo and some of the others were surprisingly loud, surprisingly amusing, amusingly so, and she was busy tracking more mud on a JP's floor when she saw him again.

"Chief." He looked up from his device. The smirk was back on his face. What a... funny boy.

Stepping closer, she asked, "What are you doing?" not quite believing he'd tell her until he turned and showed her the footage on the phone himself.

Blood, bodies... burning, ashes. Towers that snapped and crumpled with the deafening roar of some creature on the other side of it. A demon's cry—quickly silenced by the shriek of some poor soul as she joined the pile of corpses below. Members in crisp yellow uniforms scurried about the wreckage, but as far as the pixels extended there was plumes of fire and smoke and trouble... and death.

Hibiki swallowed. Her face pinched.

She didn't turn away.

"Assessing the damage in Nagoya, now that the branch here is running again," was her answer. She turned to him slowly, missing another scream as another person died, another person joined another rotting pile.

"It's a shame," Yamato murmured, turning his gaze toward her. "My workforce is trash. These people are trash. This decimated town... It puts things into perspective."

She nodded slowly. She grasped one of the ears of her hood and twisted it aimlessly.

Yamato didn't mind; he waited quietly beside her as she searched for the right words. Finally, "What makes them trash?" Not unkindly, not emotionally. Just a little question.

"They lack talent." He was quiet too. "Too many of them lack talent, some even determination whatsoever, so it's difficult to solve much of any of these crises we face. Parts of some cities have burned for days now. There simply..." He sighed. "...isn't enough skill in my hands. Unfortunate, really. I imagine there are prospects I could have accomplished, had there been enough strength in the masses. But it appears not."

He watched as Hibiki nodded and murmured a little, "Ah." She straightened herself and looked back into his eyes. "You do realize there are people serving in this facility who find this way of thinking... harsh?"

The smirk... tapered, for a moment, until it resembled something akin to a smile.

"Perhaps so. But you aren't one of those people, now are you?"

His little smile mirrored.

So she understood, then.

Well. That was one person.

Something about the way he looked at her made Hibiki giggle quietly. Something funny about him.

Funny... but he wasn't ridiculous. It was... a warm funny. A nice funny. Not a kind of funny she found in... her friends, but a different funny.

Endearing. Yes... that was it.

The next time she came searching for him was not truly a single time, but she started to find hopeful little moments where she would look around the JP's chamber, in the sea of pressed suits and fancy shoes and pale faces, because she decided she was starting to like seeing him. Yes... Yamato could be cold, and a little thoughtless toward emotions, and so far as she knew he had maybe three friends... but somehow he began to become a little endearing to her. She... craved, just slightly, for his company.

There was once not long after when she found the chief himself wandering the streets of Tokyo. Daichi was with her then and he darted after Yamato, calling, "This can't beeeeee!" loudly enough to mask her little giggles as she came after.

Yamato halted and turned. His face held a hint of confusion but otherwise there was but his smirk. "Ah. Shijima... and you." He watched as Hibiki stood by her friend. "I was searching the masses in the hopes of finding another individual with... suitable talent."

Daichi burst into laughter.

"What the heck does that even mean?" Yamato, taken aback, stood and watched as the brunette went on, gradually growing louder. "Like! Are you trying to tell us you're looking for a friend, or something? Is that what another uhhhh... another 'individual with... with suitable talent' is supposed to mean? Wow! Dude!"

Hibiki giggled alongside him. "No, that's not what he means, Daichi."

The boy stopped and looked at her. "No, no no no, that's totally what he means, dude! Listen to the way he _phrased_ that, though! Like... damn, Yamato!"

"Shijima?"

Daichi's word choice caught up with him as he blushed. "I mean! Uh... uhhhhhh!" Wildly looking about he shoved his best friend and called, "Don't listen to me! I-I- _I_ don't know what I'm saying!

"But, uh... really though. What are we talking about?"

Hibiki turned. "Mmmh. People like us, Daichi. Demon tamers." She smiled, though she looked in the direction of the silvery-haired boy beside them, like her words weren't meant for her best friend.

Yamato nodded. "Precisely. Talented personnel. Although I suppose my search was fruitless... I haven't seemed to find anyone of use." He shook his head. "Of no matter. I was planning for the upcoming days besides...

"Ronaldo Kuriki still is out with his racket. I of course consider for when we defeat all of the Septentriones... when we find Polaris and seek to change the will of the world."

Daichi was all but forgotten in the conversation. He didn't quite pick up on this and asked about Polaris's goals in this big 'change of the world' idea but was left unnoticed.

The chief of JP's turned, facing her slowly... carefully, when he spoke. "Hibiki." Her eyes widened for a moment as it registered. "You understand... don't you? Once _we_ seek Polaris... and _we_ unveil our plans for the world... things will be rather different, no? A world where the powerful are put in their rightful place is needed. One where... someone _important_ " _—_ the accentuation of the word and the meaningful look he gave her had her turn toward him slightly—"is lost within the masses... someone who could have been so easily... _missed._ This is no world to live in."

Her lips parted. She didn't gasp but she may as well have, and he reacted as if he heard it, the little smile budding.

And then Daichi was also there.

"Yeah, but... Yamatoooo! I mean... what about all the people who aren't that strong! They're gonna... are they gonna die?"

That question developed soon after into Ronaldo's statement for why not to follow into Yamato's meritocracy.

So soon after... sides began to take place. There was one extreme... there was another extreme... and there was poor, poor Daichi in the middle, because infighting was wrong, or so he felt. Of course Yamato had no qualms in dealing with those who opposed or simply couldn't comprehend his ideals, what he so wished for the world to be, and Ronaldo had something against anyone who thought similarly to a world without as much justice for all of the people... so the brunette was all but drowned out by them.

She had a choice. She could choose justice over society, or she could choose, as it was called in both truth and joke, "Daichi's third way", and... she could choose _him_ too.

And she wanted to choose him. She did. She wanted to be a part of that "we" he spoke so grandly and yet to so gently of at the same time, she wanted to be with him when they changed the world, she... she wanted to be that _someone_ , that someone who he almost _missed_.

But she didn't like the infighting either. And she didn't fully support the idea of a meritocracy, so much as she liked... the way he thought.

So she sided with her best friend.

It took some time to find him. She felt... bad. After refusing him so blatantly, after choosing a side that wasn't aligned with him. But... she couldn't completely agree either. And—no, no, she didn't feel bad... she may as well have taken the dagger and stabbed herself with it, refusing him.

Somehow... it felt... alleviating, when she learned he felt the same.

It took some time. All morning was spent in search of Ronaldo, of defeating his team and convincing them to rejoin their group. She ignored Yamato's other followers, all of those JP's members and Keita, and it wasn't until late afternoon that they encountered him again.

She was out of breath. Panting, coughing, face flushed... it mattered not. Thank goodness he was still there. Just... waiting. A strange smile had overcome him, and the afternoon sun had lit his gaze on fire.

"Yamato." Quietly. He didn't hear her.

His eyes avoided her as he picked out the members of their group, of Team Daichi's Third Way, and he whispered, "Look what you've done." Then he yelled it. "LOOK WHAT YOU'VE DONE!"

Her heart caught in her chest. She'd never heard him so... angry before.

"YOU FILTHY PEOPLE! YOU'VE CORRUPTED HER! MUDDIED HER MIND WITH YOUR INSOLENT FLUFF!" He took in breath after breath, face livid, never nearing her, never touching her, "YOU'RE HER CANCER!" and then he yelled it again for good measure, "YOU'RE HER CANCER!"

They beat him quietly. That took more time, time she was beginning to lose patience over.

When she saw him again in the aftermath... then he saw her. And those violet eyes had lost their fight...

"Please. Was it... my personality... that scared you away?"

She stepped closer. Slowly, hesitantly, then without grace and without care, quickly, quickly, until he was just in front of her. As if he could hardly believe it, he raised a hand... to touch her. Fingers gently on her cheek.

She swallowed. Shook her head. And he asked, "Then... why?"

Quiet again. Her heart beat so loudly in her chest she was sure he could hear it.

"I didn't want... this world to change." Some part of her felt so threatened looking into those sad and pained and hurt, hurt eyes, yet at the same time it was hard to turn away. It was confusing. Her heart... hurt. A lot. She must have looked similar to him, even then, especially then.

"I didn't want it to be any different. I... I like it how it is." She took in a breath, suddenly woozy. "I like you... the way you are.

Quietly... quietly she told him, "I understand that... had none of this happened, I never would have been here." She would stay a civilian with every other civilian. With all of that... trash. "But... you still found me, didn't you..?

Another breath. "I know this world is a lot of bad things... but there are good things in it. And I... I like this world how it is. I don't... I don't want..." Deep breath. "...superiority. I don't want... differences."

And then it happened.

It was all so fast.

The meager steps that separated them were done. And then he happened, and then he was right there and he held her close to him in a way that unveiled his longing. His fears. But his face, when she caught sight of it... was enraptured by a shadow of... peace. One of his hands released her to gently cup her face, and then he leaned toward her and then it happened.

His lips were... soft. It made her smile... beneath it all.

Gently he whispered, tilting back, "I understand... Hibiki."

"Yamato." She couldn't stop her smile now. He saw it and... then he smiled too.

He came with her, when they went back to the JP's quarters where the rest of them were staying. Everyone else and then their Anguished One too—or Saiduq, now. Daichi's little question about Polaris and her goals and how stupid those goals were eventually were heard by someone, so their new plan was to take her down instead of agreeing.

Everyone liked that plan more. Yamato had a bit of a struggle, giving up the dream he accepted to never see realized.

But there were good things in this world.

He didn't miss her... once he found her. And that was good.

And... Daichi, and Io... and everyone else was good too. He came to realize that most had nearly been killed, that if not for the death videos he never paid attention to they _would_ have been killed.

That he was more thankful for them than he'd given himself credit for.

And that was a good thing too. That they weren't killed.


	2. Chapter 2

**Yay, more fluff! So this is the Triangulum addition, haha.**

Found

There was something wrong in this new world.

She knew this after immediately stepping into the JP's building, after seeing the strange clock in the corner and the strange different feeling it had and the fact that there was a very obvious woman standing in front of them, and while their looks were similar this was not him. And if he was missing... then something was wrong. Horribly... wrong.

Hibiki wasn't the best at voicing this herself, so she looked at her best friend who kindly did it for her.

"Yamato! Are you... Are you... you're... Ahhh, you're not in, uh... _drag_ , are you?"

She closed her eyes and burst into a small round of giggles as the very obvious woman standing in front of them made this strange grunt sound. "Yamoto? Ahh... Please enlighten me as to who you're speaking of."

"Um." Daichi coughed. "You?" Oh, poor Daichi.

"No?" When Hibiki reopened her eyes she was met with a scowl worryingly similar to Yamato's smirk if but reversed. "My name is Miyako Hotsuin, and I am chief of JP's."

Hibiki blushed a little angrily. "You're not," she muttered.

Miyako tilted her head and frowned somewhat more. It didn't intimidate the civilian in front of her and she dropped her expression. "I _am_."

"No." Hibiki shook her head. "You're _not_."

Daichi eventually stepped in front of his best friend and went, "No, uhhhh... well, obviously we're not getting anywhere with this though I must say, Miyako-chan, wow! You are cute!"

From beside them, Io winced.

"Er, um! That's not what I meant to sssaaayy..." Daichi winced then too. "I mean, ahh, Miyako-chan, y'see... Yamato Hotsuin's supposed to be chief of JP's... He looks exactly like you, but, y'know, he's not a girl. Also he's... well. He's, uhhhh... different from you."

They learned rather quickly that this "Miyako-chan" of theirs did not take kindly to talented personnel or highly skilled civilians. She preferred to shoulder all weights on her own...

and she did not know of a Yamato Hotsuin.

Or of a "Saiduq" for that matter, who had also gone off and disappeared.

There were many wrong things with this new world of theirs.

Hibiki retreated toward a much more... deadly mood as this set in. On one side... she was devastated. For another... anger—anger at Miyako for not being him, for taking his place. Finally there was... hope. Denial, really, stubbornly clinging to her heart that he couldn't be gone, now could he? That wasn't _right_. It... It just wasn't. She didn't need to explain herself... it felt wrong.

Miyako-chan took some getting used to. Especially after she called Hibiki and the others more or less expendable and allowed them to take refuge in the JP's quarters, but they were to no extent allowed to fight the new Septentriones... or as they were so called, the Triangulum.

At some point the silvery-haired girl made her way for Hibiki. Curious, merely. "Why was this Yamato of yours so important to you?"

"He merely... _is_." She didn't get along very well with Miyako.

"But may I know why? You search actively so for him, surely as much as your other friends... and while they display their concerns openly... none of them go so far as to refuse all contact with other humans. You must certainly be overworking yourself."

Hibiki narrowed your eyes. "None of your importance." It was irritating enough to look into a face so like his and only for those violet eyes to belong to a completely different person, her thoughts calculating and thoughtful like his but much more... emotionless. Where he took pride in his work, and was pleased when successful, she appeared uninterested in the lives of individual human beings. And she grew angry with them when they tried to assist her.

She wasn't very good with powerlessness. Neither of them were, it seemed. Standing up, Hibiki pulled her hood over her head and walked off to go pester somebody else, anyone else. Miyako was... annoying.

Even without the new JP's chief's grace, the lot of them managed to scrounge what information they could, and whenever they ran into one of the Triangulum there wasn't much of a reason not to defeat them, especially in times of danger, which was most every time they met one. Once they found Ronaldo, which took longer than the majority of the others, as his job as a detective had him moving constantly in search of ways to help others, it was not long after that they left JP's and took over the Nagoya branch for themselves, he in tow.

It was funny. In their first world, Ronaldo spent the majority of his time post-apocalypse attempting to overtake that branch, and there it was, and there it happened.

Eventually, finally, they met Arcturus, a foe who proved too powerful for their combined strength—and it was not long after that Fumi found—via hacking—a possible entrance to the Akasha Stratum. Where they fought Polaris. Where they won... where everything had changed and then Yamato... disappeared. And it was obvious: he had to be there. But of _course_.

The whole situation made Hibiki a little overly giddy. And scared, and nervous and anxious and hopeful and it hurt again, her heart, it almost couldn't take the thought of whatever it was she had coming.

Lots of hope.

Fighting, breaking in, entering. Fighting again. Demons summoned, demons returned, death, death.

It had only been days and yet... somehow it didn't feel real. Stepping up the glassy stairs that led to where all memory of the world was stored. Where they killed Polaris an entire world ago. Seeing his face, the violet eyes, his ridiculous and medal-spangled trench coat about him as he turned back to those memories... and lifted a hand... and then it all came to a halt when he saw her.

"Hibiki?"

The smile hurt when it returned. So did her heart. So did a lot of things. She was so panicked and hasty when she saw him she tripped up the steps and kept running, jumping right back up and going toward him... holding him tightly to her.

"I found you."

He paused. His breath was on her face. He seemed to be having trouble with words, when eventually, with a little laugh that drew out into a lovely sigh, he murmured, "Yes, you have."

That made it better. But what really made it better was after he met Miyako too, and when she called him "Brother" he scorned her, this girl he didn't even know who had somehow taken over his old position.

It wasn't until he returned that they beat Arcturus. Wasn't until he returned that she could feel her mood lift again. He made things better. He made her... feel better. Somehow. And yet it was because of him that she had hurt at all... It made her smile slightly.

He began to show where she went. To seek her out. To find her, and then to tell her little things sometimes, or just to hold her, just to... see her. He had such an abundance of free time after losing his position to Miyako that eventually he took to seeing her almost... wholly. They talked about things... about the Akasha Stratum, about the fate of the world, about the end of the world all over again.

That she was thankful... he was okay. That some tiny, tiny part of her she'd tried to ignore had been terrified... terrified of the possibility of where he was and why he was gone... why he had been gone for only three or so days but those three or so days were so... long.

He agreed, quietly. That made it better too.

They had a habit of trust, the two of them. And understanding. Hibiki found that important... well. Really she just found _him_ important. So important.

He stayed unwaveringly by her in the first day of his return alone.

She'd watched him, asked him softly, "Why is this?" She smiled as she said it, and he mirrored her.

There was a contentedness upon him she hadn't seen much of before. It... suited Yamato. And it made him feel that much warmer the less amount of steps that were between them.

"Who are you to tell me I cannot spend time around the person I care about more than any other?"

Oh... _oh_. She blushed and lost her sight on him for a moment. _Teasing_ her.

"I'm not." The giggle burst out and she almost regretted it, though the look on his face in turn was simply charming. "I'm just asking why me."

And then it was his turn to laugh. Slowly... gently... warmly. Oh, goodness, her face had to be a mess at this point. And this, she had thought, silently pondering the state of her emotional self, was a reaction; well, she had something in store whence he took her hand and turned her, slowly, toward him.

The violet eyes were very... kind, upon her. "There simply is no better choice." He leaned in close. Their foreheads bumped gently. "It has to be you."

It didn't take very long for everyone else to see it coming. But most noticeably so was Miyako.

"Ah," she murmured when she caught their hands entwined. "So that is why." She smirked toward her "brother", and said to him, "Yamato. When did this girl become the recipient of your affection?"

He didn't deny the implication. "Some time ago now." He watched Hibiki curiously as her gaze strayed for the solid floor, her face shadowed. Was she... embarrassed? How amusing.

"Really. And how did _you_ become _hers_?" The focus shifted. Hibiki didn't want to say anything so she refrained, a bit of a smirk toying on her lips.

He formed a little smile, watching her. "It certainly didn't hurt when I stayed in the Akasha Stratum and restored her... indisposition. You did hear about her strange malfunctioning when she came too close to one of the Triangulum? I am satisfied to say that I ensured she would not be lost. For were her data to fully corrupt... well it would be quite the shame if she weren't here today."

"Yes... Yes." Miyako dipped her head. "She was rather angry with me when we first met, for I was in your place. She was... dissatisfied with me." Soft laugh. It sounded... a little sad.

"She means much to me," was his response. "I mean much to her. That is all there is." He shook his head, his small grin not quite leaving. "There are others as well. It wouldn't... be the same... without the people I am thankful to call friends. I admit that there were times in the original world where I wasn't as warmhearted as I am now. I appreciate the change."

Eventually they came to a conclusion of what to do with their world now that it was nearly destroyed. Yamato, of course, as he had done in their first world, led again. Helped plan a way to keep them all... safe.

He took her somewhere later. Not all that far from anyone else, but private enough to give them a space on their own.

"Yamato... what will you do now that your place has been filled?" Now that he's changed..? She could feel his warmth beside her... and it made her head spin just so.

A soft laugh. "That's what I came to tell you. I was thinking..." His eyes wandered as he spoke, as if he found it difficult to word it the way he needed to. "I was always so passionate about the world I grew up in, the world that I was given the power to save as a Hotsuin. If there was anything I wanted... it was to travel. I thought it might be..." He looked off. "...fun."

It sounded silly, hearing such a cute little word come out of his lips, in that warm, formal voice of his.

If anyone deserved to rest... The question had become what _hadn't_ he done, because there weren't a lot of things Yamato Hotsuin hadn't saved in his life.

But... oh, she couldn't help it... _he_ had been saved too, hadn't he? Said so himself to his "sister". Smiling irresistibly, she whispered, "You're not going alone... are you?"

"That's why you're here now." He managed to look into her again. His silvery hair shadowed one eye and gave the other one a glow as he smiled slowly. "I... I wanted to, ah, ask... um..." He lost his nerve again.

Oh, why pick now to become so bashful?

Giggling, she murmured, "Yes please," and then he started to laugh. First quietly, then raising his voice, he looked up and he smiled.

"Yes please indeed." After a quiet moment he took her in and held her again... and there was such a peace upon his face. "Hibiki... Will you be with me?"

Her ridiculous smile... she felt it hot on her face... and it made him laugh again, just quietly, when she looked at him.

"Mmmh..." she nodded slowly, pressing herself against him. "I... I—I mean..." Ah, no wonder he couldn't say it earlier. She struggled to nod again. "Yeah... Yes, ah... I want that."

He pressed his lips to her forehead.

"Which makes both of us."


End file.
